1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cutting apparatus, and more particularly, to cutting apparatus for cutting covers for buttons.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Buttons in the garment and upholstery industries are generally covered with material matching the garment or furniture to which the button will be secured. The buttons are generally in two pieces, including a base piece and a cover or cap piece. The material goes around the cap piece and is pressed onto the base piece to hold the two pieces together, with the edges of the material held together between the two pieces.
The material that is the cover the buttons is made by circular cutter blades. The cutter blades are generally in the configuration of a hollow tube, with a cutting edge at one end of the tube. The cutter is placed on the material to be cut and is forced downwardly so that the blade cuts through the material, which may be one or several layers, by means of the force placed on the top or upper portion of the cutter. In the prior art, the cutting force is usually from a hammer blow or the like.
The prior art method or technique has obvious limitations. Among the limitations are the requirement for a hammer, the requirement for a relatively substantial amount of physical strength, the possibility of damage to the cutter blade, the potential for accident due to mishandling of the cutter, and potential damage to the cutting edge of the cutter due to misalignment of the cutter and/or misalignment of the power stroke by the user.
The apparatus of the present invention overcomes the problems inherent in the prior art by providing a lever-operated cutter in which the cutter moves coaxially along a rod, and the rod acts as a self-ejecting element for ejecting the cut fabric after cutting.